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Kharaba Z, Alfoteih Y, Alzoubi KH, Al-Azzam S, Al-Azayzih A, Al-Obaidi HJ, Awad AB, Dallal Bashi YH, Ahmed R, Khalil AM, Al Ahmad R, Aldeyab MA, Jirjees F. Lessons Learned from the Pandemic in the UAE: Children COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy and Its Impact on the Choice of Distance versus Face-to-Face Learning Modalities: An In-Depth Analysis of a National Study. Vaccines (Basel) 2023; 11:1598. [PMID: 37897000 PMCID: PMC10611097 DOI: 10.3390/vaccines11101598] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2023] [Revised: 10/03/2023] [Accepted: 10/09/2023] [Indexed: 10/29/2023] Open
Abstract
This study addresses the crucial aspect of childhood COVID-19 vaccination and its impact on parental decisions concerning learning modalities during the pandemic. This study aimed to gauge parental hesitancy towards vaccinating their children and its influence on choosing between distance and face-to-face learning options. Following STROBE guidelines for cross-sectional studies, this study surveyed 1973 parents in the United Arab Emirates using Google Forms during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results revealed that while more than half of the parents (51.6%) were willing to vaccinate their children if the COVID-19 vaccine was accessible and affordable, a significant majority (91.2%) expressed concerns about the rapid vaccine development process, which was the primary reason for vaccine rejection. Interestingly, a sizable portion (55.3%) had experienced online learning in the previous academic term, and, of those, 59.6% believed it negatively influenced their children's academic performance. Consequently, 66.4% expressed intent to shift their children back to face-to-face learning once feasible. Significantly, parents with medical backgrounds were more inclined (91.6%) to opt for face-to-face schooling compared to those without such backgrounds. Logistic regression analysis indicated associations between sociodemographic characteristics, educational level and background, and the decision to return children to face-to-face learning. Interestingly, when it comes to vaccine hesitancy, a noteworthy connection exists between the parents' reluctance to vaccinate their children and their preference for distance learning. In fact, parents who responded negatively to vaccinating their children against COVID-19, if the vaccine was available, showed a clear preference for the distance learning modality (p-value < 0.0001). This study underscores the complex interplay of factors and community perspectives shaping parental acceptance of childhood COVID-19 vaccination. The development pace of vaccines significantly influences parents' attitudes and beliefs about vaccination programs. Parents' medical backgrounds exhibit a clear correlation with their perceptions of sending children back to school safely. This highlights the potential impact of parental medical knowledge on decision making, emphasizing the need to consider parents' professional backgrounds when devising education- and vaccination-related policies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zelal Kharaba
- Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Al Ain University, Abu Dhabi Campus, Abu Dhabi 112612, United Arab Emirates
- Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 4HH, UK
| | - Yassen Alfoteih
- Department of Dental Surgery, City University Ajman, Ajman 18484, United Arab Emirates;
- Department of General Education, City University Ajman, Ajman 18484, United Arab Emirates
| | - Karem H. Alzoubi
- Department of Pharmacy Practice and Pharmacotherapeutics, College of Pharmacy, University of Sharjah, Sharjah 27272, United Arab Emirates; (K.H.A.); (F.J.)
- Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid 22110, Jordan; (S.A.-A.); (A.A.-A.)
| | - Sayer Al-Azzam
- Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid 22110, Jordan; (S.A.-A.); (A.A.-A.)
| | - Ahmad Al-Azayzih
- Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid 22110, Jordan; (S.A.-A.); (A.A.-A.)
| | - Hala J. Al-Obaidi
- School of Pharmacy, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast BT9 7BL, UK; (H.J.A.-O.); (Y.H.D.B.)
| | - Ahmed Bahaaeldin Awad
- Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Burjeel Medical City Hospital, Abu-Dhabi 7400, United Arab Emirates;
| | - Yahya H. Dallal Bashi
- School of Pharmacy, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast BT9 7BL, UK; (H.J.A.-O.); (Y.H.D.B.)
| | - Rahaf Ahmed
- Abbott LaboratoriesAlphamed Company Limited, Abu Dhabi 4236, United Arab Emirates;
| | - Alaa M. Khalil
- Al Thiqa Pharmacy Group, Abu Dhabi 47612, United Arab Emirates;
| | - Raneem Al Ahmad
- Pharmacy Intern, Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi 112412, United Arab Emirates;
| | - Mamoon A. Aldeyab
- Department of Pharmacy, School of Applied Sciences, University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield HD1 3DH, UK;
| | - Feras Jirjees
- Department of Pharmacy Practice and Pharmacotherapeutics, College of Pharmacy, University of Sharjah, Sharjah 27272, United Arab Emirates; (K.H.A.); (F.J.)
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Jirjees F, Odeh M, Aloum L, Kharaba Z, Alzoubi KH, Al-Obaidi HJ. The rise of telepharmacy services during the COVID-19 pandemic: A comprehensive assessment of services in the United Arab Emirates. Pharm Pract (Granada) 2022; 20:2634. [PMID: 35919806 PMCID: PMC9296093 DOI: 10.18549/pharmpract.2022.2.2634] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2022] [Accepted: 03/31/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Objective: The study aimed to explore changes in community pharmacies’ processes in response to the pandemic in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and factors affecting the adoption of these changes. Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted using a self-administered questionnaire that was distributed to licensed community pharmacists in the UAE. The survey used to collect information on the type of telepharmacy services and related topics such as constraints and supports. The evaluation of services was done for three periods: before, during and after lockdown. Results: The number of completed surveys was 391. The majority of the participants were under 35 years old (79.5%), female (65.0%), with a bachelor’s degree (82.6%), and working in a pharmacy group (70.6%). Pharmacies provided the services by phone (95.6%) and/or messaging applications (80.0%) such as WhatsApp and Messenger. The community pharmacies provided a variety of services using telepharmacy tools such as managing of mild diseases, dispensing and delivering prescribed and OTC medications, general health information, and services for patients with chronic disease. The main factors that had significant effects on several telepharmacy services were pharmacies’ type (group/chain vs. individual) and the number of pharmacists in the pharmacy (p < 0.05). Lack of time, training and financial support were the main barriers associated with telepharmacy services among individual pharmacies. Conclusion: Telepharmacy supported the work of community pharmacies during the COVID-19 pandemic by facilitating the provision of pharmaceutical services. Although the occurrence of several financial and technical problems, it appeared less frequently in pharmacy chains with a large number of pharmacists.
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Affiliation(s)
- Feras Jirjees
- Department of Pharmacy Practice and Pharmacotherapeutics, College of Pharmacy, University of Sharjah, 27272, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
| | - Mohanad Odeh
- Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacy Practice, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The Hashemite University, P.O. Box 330127, Zarqa 13133, Jordan.
| | | | - Zelal Kharaba
- College of Pharmacy, Al-Ain University, UAE, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University, UK.
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Alsous MM, Ali AA, Al-Azzam SI, Abdel Jalil MH, Al-Obaidi HJ, Al-Abbadi EI, Hussain ZK, Jirjees FJ. Knowledge and awareness about human papillomavirus infection and its vaccination among women in Arab communities. Sci Rep 2021; 11:786. [PMID: 33436959 PMCID: PMC7804285 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-80834-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2020] [Accepted: 12/18/2020] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Cervical cancer (CC) is one of the most common types of cancer that affect females worldwide with hundreds of thousands of women dying annually due to this disease, mainly in developing countries. Infection with human papillomavirus (HPV) is the main risk factor for this cancer. There are no public awareness and national immunization programs in most Arab countries. This study aimed to investigate the knowledge and awareness about the HPV vaccine among females in four Arab countries and their acceptance to receive the vaccine. A cross-sectional study was conducted in several Arab countries: Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Iraq. Respondents that fulfilled the desired criteria and were willing to participate in the study were asked to fill out the survey. Knowledge and awareness were assessed using 13 questions. Ethical approvals were given from the four countries. A total of 3658 individuals participated in the study; however, 2804 responses were included in the analysis and more than one third of participants (n = 1007) were aged between 18 and 25 years old. This study revealed poor awareness and knowledge of the participants about HPV and its vaccine among all four countries’ participants with relatively better knowledge among participants from the UAE. Participants who are younger (18–25 years old), have a postgraduate education, have an education or career related to the medical field, or had a Pap smear in the last three years tend to have higher knowledge about the HPV vaccine compared to others. Poor knowledge and awareness findings in this study were expected, considering the lack of public education campaigns regarding the HPV virus coupled with the absence of the HPV vaccination from the national immunization schedule in three participating countries (Jordan, Qatar, and Iraq). It is recommended that there is a need to provide national educational campaigns about the HPV vaccine to the public in all Arab populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mervat M Alsous
- Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacy Practice, Faculty of Pharmacy, Yarmouk University, Irbid, Jordan.
| | - Ahlam A Ali
- Medical Biology Centre, School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, UK
| | - Sayer I Al-Azzam
- Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, Jordan
| | - Mariam H Abdel Jalil
- Department of Biopharmaceutics and Clinical Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan
| | - Hala J Al-Obaidi
- Clinical and Practice Research Group, School of Pharmacy, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, UK
| | - Esraa I Al-Abbadi
- Qatar National Cancer Registry, National Cancer Program, Ministry of Public Health, Doha, Qatar
| | - Zainab K Hussain
- Department of Biology, College of Science, University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq
| | - Feras J Jirjees
- Department of Pharmacy Practice and Pharmacotherapeutics, College of Pharmacy, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
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Jirjees FJ, Dallal Bashi YH, Al-Obaidi HJ. COVID-19 Death and BCG Vaccination Programs Worldwide. Tuberc Respir Dis (Seoul) 2020; 84:13-21. [PMID: 32883062 PMCID: PMC7801810 DOI: 10.4046/trd.2020.0063] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2020] [Accepted: 09/04/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Several clinical trials are being conducted worldwide to investigate the protective effect of the bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine against death in healthcare providers who are working directly with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients. Clinical studies suggested that certain live vaccines, particularly the BCG vaccine, could reduce the mortality due to other diseases caused by non-targeted pathogens, most probably through the nonspecific effects (heterologous effects). By the end of May 2020, the available information on the COVID-19 pandemic indicated the great effect of the BCG vaccine in reducing the number of COVID-19 death cases. The occurrence of death due to COVID-19 was found to be 21-fold lower in countries with a national BCG vaccination policy than in countries without such a policy, based on the medians of COVID-19 death case per 1 million of the population in these two groups of countries (p<0.001, MannWhitney test). Therefore, it can be concluded that the early establishment of a BCG vaccination policy in any country is a key element in reducing the number of COVID-19 and tuberculosis death cases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Feras J Jirjees
- College of Pharmacy, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
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